"If you're afraid of dying, and you're
holdin' on, you'll see devils tearin' your life away. But if
you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels,
freein' you from the world. It all depends on how you look at
it."

-Louie paraphrasing Meister Eckhart at the end
of Jacob's Ladder.

At the end of the movie Jacob's Ladder, the main character
Jacob Singer has a talk with Michael, a chemist who explains to him
that the violent deaths of the soldiers in his battalion in Vietnam
were caused by a drug-induced psychosis brought about by the
hallucinogen BZ, or quinuclidinyl benzilate. This drug was invented
under the direction of the U.S. government to maximize the aggression
of the soldiers, but it backfired when the unwitting human guinea
pigs turned on one another. This is a classic conspiracy theory, but
is the story of BZ actual fact or movie fiction? A little research on
the internet revealed the following:

At the National Institute of Mental Health Addiction
Research Center in Kentucky in the mid-1950s, drug-addicted
African Americans were given LSD, with seven of them kept
hallucinating for 77 consecutive days. At this same center,
healthy African American men were still being used as test
subjects almost 10 years later, this time for an experimental
drug, BZ--100 times more powerful than LSD.
This follows a long psychiatric tradition of using for
experimental purposes the incarcerated, the dispossessed and
others who have no voice.

This first report seems to confirm the existence of BZ, its
psychoactive and psychotomimetic properties, and its abuse by
government agencies. However, lack of mainstream media coverage
leaves one to wonder about the actual facts. One search engine,
Hotbot, however, did yield further information from organizations
with more established credentials.

This group of agents usually includes substances which,
when administered in low doses (<10 mg) cause conditions
similar to psychotic disorders or other symptoms emanating from
the central nervous system (loss of feeling, paralysis, rigidity,
etc.). The effects are transitory and cause inability to make
decisions and incapacitation. Several such substances may be used
to achieve these objectives and only a few examples are given
here.

During the 1950's, studies were made of substances such as
glycolic acid esters (glycolates). Particular interest was paid to
3-quinuclidinylbenzilate, BZ. The effects of this group of
substances are similar to those caused by atropine. BZ causes
poisoning at doses of 0.5-5 mg. Peripheral symptoms such as
distended pupils, deteriorated short-distance vision, dry mouth
and palpitations occur after about 30 minutes.

A serious effect of poisoning with BZ, as also with other
atropine-like substances, is an increased body temperature.
Deterioration in the level of consciousness, hallucinations and
coma occur subsequently. Incapacitating after-effects may remain
1-3 weeks after the poisoning. Since the effect of glycolates was
found to be difficult to predict, interest in continued research
into this type of substance gradually decreased.

NASA Space Drugs

Indeed, researchers Martin
A. Lee and Bruce Shlain confirm that the Army and other
government agencies such as NASA have had research and testing
facilities where substances such as BZ were created for military and
domestic use:

[The] Millbrook [Institute] was
Psychedelic Central for the whole East Coast. Like a magnet, it
attracted illustrious visitors from all walks of life. The doors
were always open, and people were constantly coming and going. One
day a NASA scientist named Steve Groff dropped by for a visit. Dr.
Groff wanted to observe how Leary and his clan ran their sessions.
They gave him some acid, and he in turn provided samples of a
secret drug known only as JB-II8, which the military had developed
as an incapacitating agent. Similar to the army's BZ, this potent
superhallucinogen simulated a kind of free fall, at the same time
triggering bizarre visions.2

The CIA-FDA Connection

However, the question remains as to how these studies continued
after research and use of hallucinogens were banned by the FDA.
Lee
and Shlain report that in fact the FDA was in collusion with the
CIA:

Up until the early 1960s LSD studies had flourished
without government restrictions and the CIA had sponsored numerous
research projects to enhance its mind control capabilities. . . .

While acid was still an important part of the cloak-and-dagger
arsenal [in 1962], by this time the CIA and the army had
developed a series of superhallucinogens such as the highly touted
BZ, which was thought to hold greater promise as a mind control
weapon...

In 1962, Congress enacted new regulations which required that
anyone who wanted to work with LSD had to receive special
permission from the FDA. This was the first of a series of
increasingly restrictive measures with respect to LSD research.
But the CIA and the military were not inhibited by the new drug
laws. A special clause in the regulatory policy allowed the FDA to
issue "selective exemptions" that favored certain researchers.
With this convenient loophole the FDA never attempted to oversee
in-house pharmacological research conducted by the CIA and the
military services. . . .

The FDA simply ignored all studies that were classified for
reasons of national security, and CIA and military investigators
were given free reign to conduct their covert experimentation.
Apparently, in the eyes of the FDA, those seeking to develop
hallucinogens as weapons were somehow more "sensitive to their
scientific integrity and moral and ethical responsibilities" than
independent researchers dedicated to exploring the therapeutic
potential of LSD.

Incapacitating Agents

These secondary sources do not provide any direct evidence for
these covert operations on the part of the U.S. government and
military. However, recently
declassified Army documents do confirm these reports. What they
tell us is that BZ is a military agent designed specifically to
incapacitate soldiers (not necessarily to incite them to aggression).
Frederick R. Sidell, M.D., states in his description of chemical
agent terrorism,

Incapacitating agents are usually defined as chemical
agents that produce reversible disturbances in the central nervous
system that disrupt cognitive ability. The former military agent
BZ (now used in pharmacology where it is known as QNB) is a
cholinergic blocking compound and produces many effects similar to
those of atropine, such as mydriasis, drying of secretions, heart
rate changes, and decreased intestinal motility. BZ, after an
onset time of an hour or more, will--like high doses of
atropine--produce confusion, disorientation, and disturbances in
perception (delusions, hallucinations) and expressive function
(slurred speech). The antidote, physostigmine (Antilirium7),
reverses these effects for about an hour, and because the effects
of BZ last for hours to days repeated doses must be given.

CNS depressants produce their effects by interfering with
transmission of information across central synapses. An example of
this type of agent is 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate (BZ), which blocks
the muscarinic action of acetylcholine both peripherally and
centrally. In the central nervous system anticholinergic compounds
disrupt the high integrative functions of memory, problem solving,
attention and comprehension. Relatively high doses produce toxic
delirium which destroys the ability to perform any military
task.

Government Confirmation

Finally, In 1994, The Committee On Veterans Affairs Of The United
States Senate confirmed the involvement of the Army and CIA in covert
operations involving the testing of BZ:

A Staff Report Prepared For The Committee On Veterans Affairs
United States Senate, December 8, 1994

For at least 50 years, DOD [Department of Defese]
has knowingly exposed military personnel to potentially dangerous
substances, often in secret. The U.S. General Accounting
Office issued a report on September 28, 1994, which stated that
between 1940 and 1974, DOD and other national security agencies
studied hundreds of thousands of human subjects in tests and
experiments involving hazardous substances. GAO stated that some
tests and experiments were conducted in secret. Medical research
involving the testing of nerve agents, nerve agent antidotes,
psychochemicals and irritants was often classified. Additionally,
some work conducted for DOD by contractors still remains
classified today. For example, the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) has not released the names of 15 of the approximately 80
organizations that conducted experiments under the MKULTRA
program, which gave psychochemical drugs to an undetermined number
of people without their knowledge or consent. According to the GAO
report, the CIA has not released this information because the
organizations do not want to be identified. . . . (underline
mine).

Hallucinogens

Working with the CIA the Department of Defense gave
hallucinogenic drugs to thousands of "volunteer" soldiers in the
1950's and 1960's. In addition to LSD, the Army also tested
quinuclidinyl benzilate, a hallucinogen code-named BZ. Many of
these tests were conducted under the so-called MKULTRA program,
established to counter perceived Soviet and Chinese advances in
brainwashing techniques. Between 1953 and 1964, the program
consisted of 149 projects involving drug testing and other studies
on unwitting human subjects. Although many human subjects were not
informed or protected, Dr. Gottlieb defended those actions by
stating "...harsh as it may seem in retrospect, it was felt that
in an issue where national survival might be concerned, such a
procedure and such a risk was a reasonable one to take."

Appendix

Lastly, this examination of internet documents related to BZ
concludes with some telling messages posted to the newsgroup
"alt.drugs"

Nachricht von : bwhite@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (William E. White
)
Betrifft : Re: Your worst nightmare
Erstellungsdatum : 06.02.1994 14:19:29 W+0:00
In article <lonewolfCKqK9q.B9u@netcom.com>, Joseph E.
Gladstone <lonewolf@netcom.com> wrote:>: Sounds like BZ
to me. I guess it's closely related to nerve gas. The feature film
"Jacob's Ladder" portrayed BZ experiments in Vietnam during the
war. Jody>No way - BZ lasts for quite a while depending on
doseage, 8 - 72 hours.>Cholinergics produce wierd effects, but
not predictably nightmarish. Actually, BZ (quinuclidinol
benzilate, or QNB) is an anticholinergic,acting specifically on
muscarinic receptors. It is extremely potent (andis, in fact, used
in research for its antimuscarinic properties). It also seems to
have a greater LD50/ED50 ratio than other antimuscarinics (such as
atropine, scopolamine, etc). But I wouldn't try it, it's stillnot
particularly safe. Incidentally, it has been reported to tend
to induce nightmarish hallucinations/delusions (I could never find
out why). In any case, I can imagine that in a combat situation,
one could easilyfind onesself in a bad trip.

EDTBZ is the benzoicc acid ester of 3-Quinuclidinol. I believe
it wasexplored as a chemical warfare incapicitating agent by the
CIA.I know Dr. James Moore who used to be a prof at the U of DE
and made compounds for the CIA. He tells some amazing tales. Case
in point: He made BZ for the CIA and got some on his hands. He
felt very disoriented. "I felt like the whole world turned
sideways on me." This effect lasted for days and so he asked the
big boys at the CIA how to get back. They told him to take some
THA (tetrahydroacridine) that is now used as an experimental
Alzheimers treatment. He claims it straightened him right out.
MK-801 is a sigma opiate receptor agonist (I think) not sure about
that one. Forward this anon to alt.drugs if you think it is worth
it. Thanks.--keith -- Lamont Granquist (lamont@hyperreal.com)"

And then the alien anthropologists - Admitted they were still
perplexed - But on eliminating every other reason - For our sad
demise - They logged the only explanation left - This species has
amused itself to death" -- Roger Waters

Notes

1. The Citizens Commission on
Human Rights was founded by Dr. Thomas Szasz, Professor Emeritus of
Psychiatry, State University of New York, and the Church of
Scientology.

2.
Quoted from Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The
CIA, the Sixties and Beyond (Grove Press, 1989).